Warley and Nick accordingly set off in opposite directions, and Lavie and Frank began their work. They first took an axe from their stores, and choosing from among the drift-wood three of the longest spars, resolved to fix two of them in the ground, and lash the third to their upper ends. They selected for this purpose a hollow between two high sand hills, about a hundred yards above high-water mark. Then they were to cut six more poles, and lay them on either side against the ridge piece, burying the other ends in the sand. Over this frame-work the tarpaulin was to be stretched, and kept in its place by laying some heavy pieces of wood on the lower ends. Thus a small tent would be formed, at the bottom of which the boat's sail was to be spread, forming a convenient place on which to lay their stores, and make up their beds. Plainly it would occupy a considerable time to complete these arrangements, but they had not advanced half-way, when Nick came hurrying back in a state of the greatest excitement, declaring that he had seen, at a short distance, the roofs of what was evidently a town of considerable size; and on a flat piece of ground adjoining it, a number of men--soldiers they seemed to be--in red and white uniforms, drawn out in long lines, as if on parade. "A large town, Nick! soldiers in uniform!" repeated Wilmore in great astonishment. "You must be dreaming." "I assure you I am not," replied Gilbert, whose demeanour showed that he was thoroughly in earnest. "I could see, quite distinctly above the fog, the towers of a church, apparently, and a long row of battlements, evidently part of a line of fortifications; and, through openings in the mist, the red caps and jackets of the soldiers were as plain as anything I ever beheld in my life." "But it can't be, doctor, can it?" asked Frank. "I am sure I should be glad enough to think we were near any inhabited spot, let alone a large city. But you're pretty certain of our whereabouts, ain't you?" "Yes; I don't think I can be mistaken very much, and I must be out of all reckoning wrong, if this is true. There is no town, that I know of, on this coast, between the Portuguese settlements, which are something like eight hundred miles to the north of where I suppose we now are, and Cape Town, which is almost as far to the south." "Well, just come and look for yourself, doctor," said Nick. "It won't take you long. The place is not above two or three miles off at the outside." "Of course I will go--we'll all go, Nick--Lion and all I am sure I hope with all my heart that you may be right. It will save us a very long and dangerous journey if you are." He caught up a fowling-piece which had belonged to his friend the purser, and handed Frank the fourth gun, an ordinary seaman's carbine. "Now then, Nick, lead the way."